Divine Talisman

Having finished speaking, Yan Yun produced her Divine Mark Realm puppet.

The moment it appeared, Yan Yun swiftly waved her hand, and the puppet vanished from its spot, instantly reappearing before Ding Hui.

Though Ding Hui knew Yan Yun possessed even more powerful puppets, the sheer speed of this Divine Mark Realm puppet was beyond his ability to react.

He barely managed to raise his arm in defense the moment the puppet struck.

The puppet’s fist crashed heavily onto his arm.

An audible crunch emanated instantly from Ding Hui’s arm.

He himself was sent flying by the puppet’s immense power, and simultaneously plummeted from the sky.

Yan Yun’s assault did not cease.

She activated a fourth-tier talisman treasure, from which a colossal golden sword erupted, hurtling towards Ding Hui.

“Alliance Master, Yan Yun is trying to kill him! How can she be so ruthless during a friendly competition?”

Upon witnessing Yan Yun’s methods, the Lieyang Gate’s Gate Master immediately rose to protest to Shangguan Jinyang.

Upon hearing the man’s words, Shangguan Jinyang’s mouth twitched involuntarily.

‘You sent several disciples whose cultivation far surpasses hers to gang up on her. Who, then, is truly trying to kill whom? Isn’t this merely a counter-attack? I, the Alliance Master, will not be your pawn.’

“Rest assured, if Yan Yun were truly about to kill your disciple, the referee would intervene,” Shangguan Jinyang stated indifferently.

Yan Yun’s golden sword plunged heavily towards Ding Hui.

Ding Hui immediately summoned a Divine Mark Realm defensive artifact, positioning it before him.

When the golden sword struck the artifact, it did not shatter it.

Instead, it drove Ding Hui further into the ground.

Ding Hui crashed violently into a pile of metal debris on the ground.

‘Just like that, a little more force.’

Even as Ding Hui crashed, he urged in his mind.

Yan Yun’s Divine Mark Realm puppet followed closely.

Like a meteor, it delivered a kick to Ding Hui’s defensive artifact, forcefully shattering it into pieces.

With his artifact destroyed, Ding Hui’s heart ached with profound regret.

This had been his most potent defensive artifact.

‘Once this mission is complete, I must make the sect compensate me for my losses.’

Ding Hui muttered to himself.

After the puppet shattered Ding Hui’s artifact, its next kick landed squarely on his chest.

Ding Hui immediately spat out a large mouthful of fresh blood, his ribs instantly fracturing completely.

For an ordinary person, such a blow would have been fatal.

However, Ding Hui was a powerful Spirit Transformation Realm cultivator, and his internal energy immediately began to mend his injuries.

Thus, while the injury appeared severe, it was far from life-threatening.

Ding Hui did not attempt to rise again.

Instead, he feigned unconsciousness, allowing the puppet to pin him to the ground.

What Yan Yun failed to notice was that as the puppet pressed against his chest, a unique power was absorbed into his body through the puppet.

“Yan Yun,” Ding Hui intentionally bellowed, “How can you be so ruthless during a friendly competition? Do you wish to be disqualified?”

The Divine Venerable referee in the sky was already poised to intervene.

Yan Yun, meanwhile, descended from the sky, her treasured sword clutched in hand.

She strolled leisurely towards Ding Hui, her face etched with a murderous aura, as if truly intending to slay him.

Upon reaching Ding Hui, she raised the sword in her hand.

“Die!”

As the sword descended, aiming for his body, Ding Hui immediately felt his scheme had succeeded.

“Hahahaha, Yan Yun, it is you who will die.”

From Ding Hui’s chest, an incredibly terrifying aura suddenly erupted.

This aura was truly earth-shattering, causing the entire Mount Liuyang range to tremble.

The spectators outside the arena were all startled.

“This… this is the power of the Divine Venerable Realm! This brat from Lieyang Gate possesses power bestowed by a Divine Venerable cultivator. What is he trying to do? Why has he suddenly activated such a terrifying technique?”

From the high platform, Fairy Yunshuang of the Yunhua Sect abruptly rose, her gaze fixed on the Lieyang Gate’s Gate Master.

The Lieyang Gate’s Gate Master, too, wore a look of utter bewilderment.

“Ding Hui, what are you doing? It’s not yet time for you to unleash the Divine Venerable Talisman! Have you lost your mind?”

The scene witnessed by the spectators differed greatly from what Ding Hui himself perceived.

The onlookers merely saw the puppet pinning him, no longer attacking.

Yan Yun, however, remained perched atop her colossal sword, hundreds of meters above, observing Ding Hui activate the Divine Venerable Talisman on the ground.

It was as if Ding Hui had fallen into a delusion.

‘Old Ancestor, what kind of power is this?’

Yan Yun, too, was greatly startled.

‘A Divine Venerable Talisman is a consumable treasure forged by a Divine Venerable cultivator, imbued with the full power of a Divine Venerable’s strike.

It seems my conjecture was correct; they deliberately provoked you, forcing you to kill.

This is the full power strike of a Great Perfection Divine Venerable.

Even that Divine Venerable referee in the sky would be utterly incapable of stopping it.’

‘Alas, your puppet is likely to be completely destroyed,’ Yan Lingyun remarked with a sigh of resignation.

Yan Yun said nothing more.

She simply watched as the Divine Venerable Talisman’s power erupted.

A surge of energy soared skyward from Ding Hui’s body.

Immediately after, a majestic Divine Venerable Aspect materialized in the heavens.

The moment this Divine Venerable Aspect appeared, the very heavens and earth changed color, and an overwhelming might enveloped all.

The Divine Venerable Aspect took the form of an elder, wreathed in flames.

He raised his hand, aimed downwards, and pressed down with a heavy palm strike.

The Divine Venerable referee in the sky dared not resist; yet, at that moment, he was the only one who even had a chance to.

“Damn it, the full power strike of a Great Perfection Divine Venerable?”

After cursing under his breath, he immediately dodged, allowing the terrifying blow to crash downwards.

The strike, resembling a setting sun, crashed heavily upon Ding Hui’s location.

Yan Yun’s Divine Mark puppet was instantly reduced to ashes under this immense power.

Yet, this power did not harm Ding Hui.

“Hahahaha, the mission is complete.”

Ding Hui laughed.

After its full power strike was unleashed, the Divine Venerable Talisman quickly dissipated.

This strike had indeed been terrifying.

All the cultivators within the activity zone believed an enemy was attacking the venue.

“The full power strike of a Divine Venerable cultivator? Who unleashed this? What is happening at this Jiang Country Immortal Dao Assembly?”

Even the Ji Country cultivators were utterly perplexed.

“Fools!”

At that moment, the Divine Venerable referee, who had been secretly observing the battle, realized Lieyang Gate was in deep trouble.

Without a second thought, he transformed into a streak of light and fled.

Looking back at Ding Hui, he was still lying on the ground, roaring with laughter.

He was celebrating the perfect completion of his mission.

However, at that very moment, a purple treasured sword descended from the sky, piercing deeply into his chest.

Ding Hui’s laughter abruptly ceased.

“To kill me, you even resorted to a Divine Venerable Talisman.

What a pity.”

Yan Yun’s figure materialized before Ding Hui.

Ding Hui spat out a mouthful of poisoned blood, his eyes wide with disbelief.

“Impossible, you, why are you still alive?”

Ding Hui asked, unable to believe his eyes.

He had clearly seen Yan Yun turn to ashes under the Divine Venerable’s power.

“Hehe, did you forget I am a poison cultivator?

Your acting was too clumsy.

You wanted to provoke me into killing you, then legitimately use the Divine Venerable Talisman to counter-kill me.

That’s why I secretly poisoned you just now.

This poison causes hallucinations, understand?”

Yan Yun explained softly.

Ding Hui’s pupils constricted once more, but this time, it was the dilation of fading life.

Not only Ding Hui, but the several Lieyang Gate disciples battling the Golden Armored Puppet also perished under its fierce attacks, falling from the sky one after another.

The Divine Venerable referee, still in a state of bewilderment, reacted by immediately descending before Yan Yun.

He checked Ding Hui’s condition, then swept his gaze over the other fallen individuals, discovering that all the Lieyang Gate members had lost their lives.

“You? Girl, you?”

The referee wanted to say something, but remembering how he had failed to rescue Yan Yun and had instead dodged the Great Perfection Divine Venerable’s strike, he found himself speechless.

“Senior, did you witness it?

They, the Lieyang Gate, used the power of a Divine Venerable for self-defense even before their lives were in danger?”

Yan Yun immediately questioned.

The Divine Venerable was choked into silence.

Meanwhile, the Lieyang Gate’s Gate Master outside the arena was already numb.

He could no longer care about these individuals; his immediate concern was how to explain this situation.

“Gate Master Sun, what is your Lieyang Gate doing?

You used a Divine Venerable Talisman just to kill a Cavern Heaven Realm cultivator?” Fairy Yunxia demanded, her tone icy.

“Sun Yang, has your Lieyang Gate gone mad?

Or do you intend to deliberately disrupt the Jiang Country Immortal Dao Assembly?

You must provide me with an explanation!”

Shangguan Jinyang roared in anger.

The other sect masters also immediately began to accuse them.

Even sects like the Azure Nether Sect, who held grudges against Yan Lingyun, were now chastising Lieyang Gate.

“I, everyone, please allow me to explain!

This disciple of Lieyang Gate was surely favored by my master, who then bestowed the Divine Venerable Talisman upon him for protection.

Perhaps he misjudged his situation, mistakenly believing his life was in danger, and thus unleashed the Divine Venerable Talisman,” Gate Master Sun hastily argued.

“Sun Yang, that’s a flimsy excuse.

Do you take everyone for fools?

Alliance Master, my Yunhua Sect strongly demands punishment for Lieyang Gate.

Their actions are a complete trampling of the righteous alliance’s dignity!” Fairy Yunxia stated sharply.

Chen Yingtian and the other Ji Country cultivators, who had also been startled earlier, now watched the unfolding drama with keen interest.

They wanted to see how Jiang Country would handle this matter.

Shangguan Jinyang was certainly going to punish Lieyang Gate.

“By order, all Lieyang Gate cultivators are stripped of their eligibility to participate.

All Lieyang Gate disciples are to be expelled, and Lieyang Gate is prohibited from participating in the Immortal Dao Assembly for the next one thousand years…”

Shangguan Jinyang publicly announced the disciplinary outcome for Lieyang Gate.

This punishment was severe, effectively forcing Lieyang Gate into a thousand-year seclusion.

They would be unable to openly recruit disciples or participate in any Immortal Dao activities.

The remaining Lieyang Gate disciples still in the arena were all apprehended by the referees.

Their expressions were utterly distraught.

Soon, the Lieyang Gate members were driven out by the Immortal Alliance.

Not only that, the Immortal Alliance also dispatched two Divine Venerables to escort them back to Lieyang Gate.

They had believed Yan Yun was doomed, but now, it was their turn to despair.

“It’s over.

Lieyang Gate is finished.

Our Lin family is completely ruined too.

To think that even the Old Ancestor’s intervention couldn’t kill that demoness!”

Lin Xiong slumped limply into his chair.